This is the blanket
covering his feet,the insecurity that feels
complete,The crumpled style never
fit to stay,this is the part that he
was meant to play.

In a bar,he holds a humble whiskey
like a rose.At the
floor,

he washes all the wisdom
to his toes.He
reflectson tests and scans and
inner bleeding stings.

Through the
night,

he’ll drink to watch
these baseball players swing.

This is the scene so
quivering to tell,

the bitter taste of
mediocre hell.

The vaunted veil that’s
hampering his sight,

this is the poem that he
was meant to write.

In a
field,

no one’s there to hear
him hit the ground.

At the
sky,

he casts his eyes but all
he knows is sound.

In a
church,

a minister pays tribute
to a life,

to a
man

who leaves behind a
family and a wife.

This is the final
painting that we sell,a congregation caught
beneath a bell.

A passing throng of
deacons soft as wings,

this is the song that we
were meant to sing.

That's What She Said

"Get in my bedroom
and don't be blue.

I need a man even if that
man is you."

That's what she
said,

and you wonder why I'm
blue.

"I need some loving all
night long,

and you're just right,
even if that right is wrong."

That's what she
said,

and that's why I sing
this song.

"Well I got good news. I
think you passed.

Now hurry home, take your
clothes, and make it fast."

That's what she
said.

I came in first for being
last.

Goldfish Bowl

I can smell your
bread

cooling in the
wind.

I read your words and your poetry.

You like to
play pretend.

Wish I had a key,

but that might be
too bold.

You really love your solitude

inside your
goldfish bowl, bowl, bowl, your goldfish bowl.

Dead men tell no
tales,

or so I’ve been
told.

Their words just reflect the light

off gems
and foolish gold.

I should write a book,

and make it
my life’s goal

to die and find my way to you

inside
your goldfish

bowl, bowl, your bowl, goldfish
bowl.

You’re not there

even though I know you
are.

You come and go like chronic pain

but you stay
in my guitar.

I really want this part.

I’ve studied
for the role.

Is there room for you and me

inside
your goldfishbowl, bowl, bowl, goldfish bowl?

Waffle House Romance

Nashville
at midnight, I was losing a fightin
a Waffle House with demons and ghosts you can’t see.That’s
when I saw her, like music she entered,and
quivered the air, as she walked straight to me,walked straight to me,walked straight to me.

She
sat beside me, burned Newports so sadly.Said:
“Man, we are falling like beggars in snow.”I
finished my hashbrowns.She swallowed
her coffee grounds.We
left holding hands in the neons that glow,neons that glow,neons that glow.

She
showed me her scars from a life spent in bars.Then
I showed her mine, a life just as hard.We
rolled and swayed, and the pain went away,two
ugly lost souls just cheating at cards,cheating at cards,cheating at cards.

She
left at morning.I was still snoring.Some
call it tragic.Others say sin.But
I see her on earth to show men what they’re worth,to
fight off their demons so once they can win,once they can win,once they can win.

Study Break (These Sunless Days)

Don’t wanna get
dressed.

It’s a sunless
day.

Just wanna wear pajamas,

and be on my merry
way.

Don’t wanna do my hair,
just
leave the make up in the drawer.I just wanna
surrender,

and give up my daily
war.

I just want taco
salad

and to study for the
test,and
for him to make me laugh.Sunless days are the
best, are the best.

I want to live on Sesame Street.I want to sit and rest my
feet.I want to live on Sesame
Street,but the world is far too real.

I’d
never starve.I’d never work.That
Oscar is a
fucking jerk.I’d like to punch

his eyes.

So if I
lived near Big Bird’s house

I’d probably never kill that
mouse.

We’d dance until

the dawn.

Law School Blues

Oh Law School, why you gotta be so cruel?My tears could fill up a poolfrom learning your rules.

Went to law school the other day,heard Professor Heekin say:"Son, you'll never get an A.That is just the way...things work in

law school."Why you gotta be so cruel?My tears could fill up a poolfrom learning your rules.

Today I saw my babyreading in the library.She said: "Babe, I'll be home at threeI owe my soul to Professor Jeffries...here in

law school."Why you gotta be so cruel?My tears could fill up a poolfrom learning your rules.

Hey LP, I am up too late!Because your memo just can't wait!I won't see forty at this rate!Professor Meggett, I'm scared to be great...here in

law school.Why you gotta be so cruel?My tears could fill up a poolfrom learning your rules.

Untitled Folk Song

I think the time has come to change my mind.

The coffee in my cup
has left me blind.

I think the time has come to change my
dance,

to tango past the clutches of
romance.

Everyday these are the words I
mumble

before I take myself into the jungle

where
people pound their chests

like beasts to clouds
above,

while I feast on unrequited love.

I think the time
has come to change my tune,

to polish all the guns and shoot the
moon.

I think it’s time to shed some innocence,

to
bash the walls, to burn the picket fence.

Everyday I have these
little fires

that breathe the oxygen of my
desires

to open up my mouth just once

to scream
words in your face

to validate all this time I waste.

I
think the time has come to stop the rain,

to lick the wounds and
stumble through the pain.

I think the time has come to say: THE
END,

to swallow all the lumps and start
again.

Everyday I think in terms of endings,

abandon
what I’ve lost and take my winnings

out into the nighttime noise,

running down the streets.I’m just searching for other ways to
eat.

Drinkin and Thinkin

I been a drinkin
and a thinkinhow sanity in me keeps a
shrinkin.I'm drinkin whiskey which
is riskytonight.I burnt my midnights into
sunlights.Reality, she put up a
good fight,but with scotch, I will
watch it melt
away.

I'm a flippin and a
trippinout of my mind I'm a
slippinthrough make believe I
receivetonight.

I been a drinkin and a
thinkinhow people are like eyes
that keep blinkin.I'm drinkin wine, but I'm
not finetonight.I've seen some motion in
the ocean.Off the coast of
everything there is commotion.I'm sippin gin, and once
again,sittin
here.

All their eyes stares
straight at mewith criminal
degrees.They think I lost my
waybecause I always
stay.

I'm where the door meets
the floor,and I won't be back
anymore.I'm mixing mai tais with
goodbyestonight.

Things I Never Showed You

I’ve got things I never
showed you,knick-knacked broken bits
of string,in a box with a
keyhole.Sometimes I take it out
to sing.

Treasures trapped like
icy sinnersalong the slowly passing
years,mementoes could’ve sworn
were winners,all just practice for the
tears.

Here’s the time you
touched my hand,a snow kissed Friday
football loss.There’s the time I was
the manwhen I helped you bear
your cross.

Baby, I am not a
dweller.I’m rarely ever caught
like this,but we are sums of all
our journeys,so I drink, and dream,
and reminisce.

Come tomorrow’s rising
sun,different lines will draw
me clear.Tonight’s an ocean of
remember,and all I want to be is
here.

Here are all the looks
you gave me,stretched like ribbons to
the start.There’s the time we
danced so slowly.Here’s your laugh.There’s my heart.

I’ve got things I never
showed you,knick-knacked broken bits
of string,in a box with a
keyhole.Sometimes I take it out
to sing.

Lonely Laying Here

Shot down on 3rd and 42

for a wallet and my
shoes.

I see the sun up in
the sky.

I guess I'm gonna
die.

So cold, so cold I
feel like mud.

So red, this
pavement staind with blood.

I see the sun up in
the sky.

I guess I'm gonna
die.

It's lonely, lonely
laying here.

So lonely, lonely
laying here.

They say, God he's
gotta plan.

I wish he'd make me
understand

why I see the sun up
in the sky,

why I guess I'm
gonna die.

Well, please sir!
Hurry and find my wife!

Tell her I'm gonna
lose my life

because I see the
sun up in the sky.

I guess I'm gonna
die.

It's lonely, lonely
laying here.

So lonely, lonely
laying
here.

I feel this coil
slipping free.

Donna, please don't
cry for me.

I see the sun up in
the sky.

I guess I'm gonna
die.

Do me a favor if you
please.

See that they keep
my tombstone clean.

I see the sun up in
the sky.

I guess I'm gonna
die.

It's lonely, lonely
laying here.

So lonely, lonely
laying here.

Sparky's Blues

Well, her left breast tattoo said "Wanted Dead or Alive."She got it in
Cleveland back in 1965.I think those fishnet stockings have seen a time or
two.They got these great big holes where the milky white shows
through.And I was really really drunk,so I believe you'll
understandwhen I say, "God bless, Mrs. RobinsonI believe you found your
man."

The wrinkles on her face go down to Chinatown,and I was broken
up. I was feeling down.Her grandma hands were something like some kinda
awful dream,and when she hold me close she smelled like Aspercreme.And I
was really really drunk,so I believe you'll understandwhen I say, "God
bless, Mrs. RobinsonI believe you found your man."

Loving's double
good from ladies twice your age,a quiet little fact taken strictly from the
page.Did I do the deed? Did I play that show?Well beggars can't be
choosers, love, and that's all you need to know.And I was really really
drunk,so I believe you'll understandwhen I say, "God bless, Mrs.
RobinsonI believe you found your man."

Viking

Have I ever sang a song of praise
to the solid standing structures, towers that you raise?
My love for our adventures, Cajun Cuban things?
That's where you're a viking.

Your ingenuity gets the best of me
when you lead me by the hand to the worlds you only see,
and connect them with a thought, tie them with a string.
That's here you're a viking.

Sick and tired, when I picked you up.
Your nerves were calmed by the whiskey in your cup,
and all at once like thunder, flames inside your throat,
you found our inner strength to fight the mountain goats...
you fought the mountain goats.

Sick and tired, when I picked you up.
Your nerves were calmed by the whiskey in your cup,
and all at once like thunder, flames inside your throat,
you found our inner strength to fight the mountain goats...

Everyday I'm counting all my many prayers,
like how I am so lucky when you push me in my chair,
and how I am so rich 'cause you're gold everything.
That's where you're a viking.
That's where you're a viking.
That's where you're a viking.

Unknown

People have told me,

"Before you
die.

Great
things will happen,

and that is
why

people will
know you.

They'll
call your name,

but great
hasn't happened.

It's all
the same."

My wind has
blown,

and I'm
still unknown.

Others have
told me,

"You've got
an old soul.

You know
the meaning

of bitter
and cold.

You've
gotta lens

so few can
use.

You build
up these sculptures,

and you
call them the
blues."

My wind has
blown,

and I'm
still unknown.

And the
rest of you tell me,

"Keep doing
your thing.

You touch
our hearts

with the
words that you sing.

Well, I
gotta tell you

some sadder
truth still.

Touching
your hearts,

well it
don't pay my bills."

My wind has
blown,

and I'm
still unknown.

Two Different Earths

She thinks I’m
strong.I think she’s
wrong.

She says I’m wonderful
because I write songs.

But we both have a
curse.

She and I live on two
different earths.

She’s the sun.I’m on the
run.

I always flee from things
I won.

Blame myself, spit and
curse

that she and I live on
two different earths.

I make my home in the
clouds.

She loves the ground
because it’s loud.

The boundaries are barely
seen,

but we sometimes meet in
between.

I’m the blues because
getting through

three simple words like I
love you

is a weight and a
curse.

She and I live on two
different earths.

Can't See A Damn

Brown
haired woman, where’d you go?

It’s
like I lost you in the snow.

I
really thought our seeds would grow.

Shows
how much I know.

Dark
eyed woman, now I’m blind!

So
if you would be so kind,

there
are feelings I’ve defined,

emotions
you need to help me find…

because I want them back,

the blues and the blacks,

my bags are all packed

to trudge this fresh cut road.

So give me what’s mine

and it will be fine.

I’ll toe this line

That points to things that glow.

Brown
haired woman understand!

All
you’ve done is tie my hands.

Tell
me was this all your plan

because
I can’t see a damn?

Blonde
haired woman, you were right.

I
can’t tell my days from nights.

I
can’t see the light.

Baby,
I have lost my sight.

Blue
eyed woman, it’s so true.

At
night I drink my dreams of you,

but
all my crayons have turned blue.

Oh
I don’t know what to do.

We’re in the same boat,

just trying to float.

These lumps in our throat

are really just songs of woe.

We’re polishing tiles,

walking these miles,

biting our smiles.

How long will we let these things
go?

Blonde
haired woman understand!

I
want to put things on your hand,

but
I have to hear your plan

because
I can’t see a damn.

Love Dogs

Slow down.

You're
moving too fast.

I'm
scared.

I want this
night to last.

Slow your
pace.

It's not a
race.

I'm fine
with being late.

This rain
isn't going to wait.

Hold
here,

this music
pressed like gold.

With
you,

these love
songs seem less old.

Sad
refrains,

and ancient
pains

seem muted
shades of gray,

as Ben
Folds slowly fades
away.

Speed
up,

and skip
straight to our song.

It
builds,

as we go
along.

With these
microphones,

we're on
our own.

We make
these

bitters
sweet.

Tonight,
we're love dogs in the street.

Leona Adams

Leona Adams,
I thought about you
today.Leona
Adams,this is how I
pray.I wondered if you wanted
to
play.

Leona Adams
–busty Miss
Seventeen.Cystic
Fibrosiskept you from being prom
queen.Sometimes I think you
were a
dream.

Leona
Adams,you wished we were closer
in ageso we could be
lovers,and you could keep
turning the page,but your life was
onlya
cage.